Rising star Marianna “The Crushen Russian” Kheyfets kept her unblemished MMA record intact this past Friday at Xtreme Fighting Championships 16 in Knoxville, Tenn. Kheyfets scored the biggest victory of her career by stopping Heather “Hurricane” Clark at the conclusion of the first round.

Kheyfets (5-0 MMA, 4-0 XFC) looked to close the distance after early leg kicks and knees from Clark (4-2 MMA, 0-1 XFC), but Clark landed another knee and broke free of a clinch. Kheyfets walked down Clark with punching combinations, but Clark found a home for her counter-right cross and got the better of the striking exchanges.

Not to be deterred, Kheyfets began to mix up her strikes midway through the round and had much greater success with kicks to the body. She landed a kick-punch combo in close that prompted Clark to clinch. When Clark backed away after a quick flurry, Kheyfets again pressed forward with a head kick and a lunging one-two. She continued to throw combinations while Clark stuck to her game plan of counter right hands that landed time and time again.

Late in the closely contested round, Clark scored a takedown that would prove to be her undoing. Kheyfets landed a short elbow to Clark’s right eye just as she was being taken down. Clark threw punches to the body until the bell sounded, but she began bleeding from below her rapidly-swelling right eye during the rest period.

While Clark’s counterstriking and late takedown looked to have been enough to narrowly win the first round, she was denied the opportunity to fight on when the cageside physician deemed her unfit to continue due to the eye injury. The abrupt end to the competitive bout was unfortunate, but Kheyfets showed marked improvement in winning her toughest fight to date. The American Top Team fighter continues her rise up the 125-pound women’s ranks.

Cummins takes close win at “Caged Fury 16″ in West Virginia

Another top prospect, Ashley “Smashley” Cummins (2-0), also was able to maintain her perfect record with a recent victory. Cummins earned a razor-thin unanimous-decision win over Stephanie “Macaquinha” Frausto (2-4) in a highly competitive bout at “NAAFS: Caged Fury 16″ on Jan. 28.

Cummins and Frausto faced off in the first sanctioned professional women’s bout in West Virginia history.

Cummins took control of the fight early on with punches and a takedown, but Frausto showcased her improving jiu-jitsu skills with a series of armbar attempts. She stayed active on the bottom with elbow strikes as Cummins punched to the head and body. Frausto used an armbar to sweep into top position, but Cummins stood and scored a late takedown.

Between rounds, cageside officials realized that the first round had erroneously been contested over three minutes as opposed to the scheduled five. Rather than halt the bout and rule it a no-contest, the fight was allowed to continue on using the abbreviated round lengths.

The second round was all Cummins. She slammed Frausto down to the mat and punished her with hard punches and elbows from Frausto’s half-guard. Some of the strikes strayed to the back of Frausto’s head, and referee Dan Miragliotta brought the fighters back to their feet and deducted one point from Cummins for the foul. Cummins secured another takedown to close out the 9-9 round.

With the fight still seemingly up for grabs heading into the third and final round, Cummins had success with an early takedown and effective ground and pound. Frausto rolled to her side to defend against the strikes and eventually escaped to her feet. She locked on a guillotine choke as Cummins took her down in the final 30 seconds, but Cummins held on until the bell.

All three judges awarded the close first round to Cummins, who walked away with a hard-fought unanimous-decision victory with scores of 29-27 across the board. Cummins has won all 10 of her pro and amateur fights.

Kunitskaya earns quick victory, fights again on March 3

Russia’s Yana “Foxy” Kunitskaya (6-1) won for the fourth straight time on Saturday night at Verdict Fighting Championship 1 in Moscow. Kunitskaya needed just 65 seconds to dispatch of compatriot Ekaterina Saraykina (0-1), who made her pro debut in the fight.

At the start of the brief bout, Saraykina scored first with punches, but Kunitskaya responded by taking her down and quickly moved to side control. She landed punches and hammerfists that forced Saraykina to roll to her side. In the process, Kunitskaya inadvertently landed a series of strikes to the back of Saraykina’s head and was given a warning for the infraction.

The fighters were stood up, and Kunitskaya immediately caught a body kick and took Saraykina back down. She effortlessly passed to mount and rained down punches until the referee intervened. This time, he stopped the fight and gave Kunitskaya the TKO win at the 1:05 mark.

Kunitskaya won’t waste any time in returning to action. She is already booked to face a much larger opponent, Anna Melikhova, at “Lion’s Fights 1: The Beginning” on March 3. Kunitskaya, who typically campaigns between 145 and 155 pounds, will give up 50 pounds to Melikhova in the open-weight matchup. Five of Kunitskaya’s six wins have come via a form of knockout.

Carvalho Faria leads winning squad at Pink Fight MMA 1

Brazil’s first all-female MMA promotion, Pink Fight MMA, staged its inaugural event on Jan. 29 in Porto Seguro. The eight-fight card included some of the country’s best prospects, as well as newcomers who were eager to be a part of the historic event.

On the strength of takedowns and ground and pound, Kalindra Carvalho Faria (3-3-1) defeated Maria Elisabete Tavares (4-3-1) via unanimous decision in the night’s main event.

Faria was able to take down Tavares multiple times in the first two rounds. She was active with punches from the top and nearly trapped Tavares in a rear-naked choke and an armbar late in round two. Tavares rallied in the final stanza with a takedown and punches of her own, but the late comeback was not enough, and Faria walked away with her second straight win.

In one of two last-minute additions to the card, Jennifer Maia (5-1-1) rebounded from her first pro loss by submitting Tatiane Aguiar (0-1) with an armbar at the 1:17 mark of round two. Maia will have a chance to avenge her lone defeat when she faces Brazilian standout Vanessa Porto (13-4) in a rematch at Pink Fight MMA 2 on Feb. 25 in Rio de Janeiro. The main event bout will be contested for the first Pink Fight women’s title at 60 kilograms (132 pounds).

Bellator star Jessica “Jag” Aguilar (12-4) faces a tough test this Friday when she battles “Little” Patricia Vidonic (6-1) at Fight Time Promotions 8 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Both fighters are currently in the midst of winning streaks. Aguilar has won seven of her past eight while Vidonic is unbeaten in her past six after dropping a decision in her pro debut. The 115-pound matchup will be free to view on-demand on GFL.tv beginning on Feb. 21.

Another member of the Bellator roster, Jessica “Evil” Eye (5-1), competes in front of her hometown fans when she faces Jackson’s MMA prospect Kelly Warren (3-1) at “NAAFS: Caged Vengeance 10″ on Saturday night in Cleveland. Eye continues to work her way back to a title rematch with NAAFS champion Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly, who handed Eye her first defeat in June, but she must first get past Warren. This event streams live on GFL.tv.

Quick results

Julia Avila (1-0) defeated Marion Reneau (1-1) by unanimous decision at “The Warriors Cage 13: Impact” on Jan. 27 in Porterville, Calif. Reneau had success early in the bout, but Avila took over in the later rounds to earn the decision in a fight-of-the-night candidate.

Kyoko Kimura (1-0-1) and Mizuho Sato (6-5-1) fought to an uninspiring unanimous draw (20-20, 20-20, 19-19) at Pancrase Progress Tour 1 on Jan. 28 in Tokyo. Kimura held a slight edge in the striking exchanges, but Sato’s takedowns were enough to even out the fight on all three judges’ scorecards in a bout in which neither fighter could little offense going.

Munah Holland (3-1) defeated Pearl Gonzalez (0-1) by majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-29) in a hotly contested bout at Ring of Combat 39 on Feb. 10 in Atlantic City, N.J. Holland’s strong final round was enough to convince two of the cageside judges to award her the victory.

Danielle “The Curse” West (4-2-1) defeated Jorina “JoJo” Baars (0-2) by TKO (punches) in round three at Girl Fights Only 7 on Feb. 12 in Wormer, The Netherlands. The bout was part of a massive all-female fight card that included 40 bouts in MMA, boxing, kickboxing and karate. West has lost only once in her past five fights.
Upcoming fights

Amanda “Powerhouse” Lucas (3-1) faces Yumiko Hotta (5-3) at “DEEP: 57 Impact” on Feb. 18 in Tokyo. The bout will be contested for the vacant DEEP women’s open-weight championship. Lucas has quickly become one of the fastest-rising stars in DEEP and has won both of her fights in the promotion. Hotta, a pioneer for women in MMA who made her debut in 1995, returns to competition for the first time in more than 11 years.

A planned bout between unbeaten prospects Julianna “The Venezuelan Vixen” Pena (3-0) and Lauren “All-In” Taylor (4-0) at “Fitetime Entertainment: Arctic Combat 12″ on Feb. 18 was scrapped this past week. Pena suffered multiple injuries when she was struck by a drunk driver while walking on a sidewalk, and a timetable for her return is currently unknown. Taylor may remain on the card against a replacement opponent.

“Rowdy” Bec Hyatt (0-1) faces Sarah Morrison (0-0) at “Brace For War 14″ on Feb. 18 in Canberra, Australia. This event streams live on GFL.tv.

Charmaine “Not So Sweet” Tweet (0-2) faces Marshelle Weinberger (0-0) at “HKFC: School of Hard Knocks 20″ on Feb. 24 in Medicine Hat, Alta. Tweet has suffered quick defeats in each of her first two pro bouts and faces another tough test in Montana’s Weinberger, who brings an 8-0 amateur record into her pro debut. This event streams live on GFL.tv.

Andrea “Killer” Miller (3-6) faces DeAnna Bennett (0-0) at “Showdown Fights: Breakout” on Feb. 24 in Orem, Utah. Miller enters the fight off of a loss to prospect Felice “Lil’ Bulldog” Herrig in March. Bennett makes her pro debut after a 2-0 amateur career. This event streams live on GFL.tv.

Jessica Branco (0-0) faces Randa Markos (0-0) at “Instinct MMA: Instinct Fighting 3″ on Feb. 25 in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Branco brings a solid background in jiu-jitsu into her debut while Markos joins the pro ranks after a 5-1-1 stint as an amateur.

MMAjunkie.com publishes the Women’s MMA Report every other Monday. Its author, Robert Sargent, is a veteran MMA journalist who also runs MMARising.com. Feel free to email us at news [AT] mmajunkie.com with any questions, news tips or suggestions.

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